Hillary Clinton's Super PAC, Taking a Page from Vladimir Putin, Spends $1 Million on Online Trolls

The reformed version of Brock has been the same vicious, defamatory creature of his past, but this time on behalf of Bill and Hillary Clinton. He went from being one of the most fearsome propagandists of the conservative right—one who arguably set Bill Clinton’s impeachment in motion—to…well, to one of the most fearsome propagandists of the political left. He’s good at what he does, and his “progressive media watchdog group” Media Matters for America quickly became a force in D.C., with millions in donations and the support of the Center for American Progress.

But Brock reserves his talent strictly for the establishment wing of the political left, and as the founder of Correct the Record, the infamous pro-Clinton super PAC, he has already brought his old flame-throwing instincts to bear on Bernie Sanders, sending trackers to follow him around the campaign trail to categorize every misstep, and even attempting to tie him to Hugo Chavez.

On the public side of things, David Brock has been fairly quiet during the primary cycle, mostly because the real mud-slinging has yet to begin. Hillary Clinton needs Bernie Sanders voters in the general election, so the full-throttle negativity has been limited. The real fun for Brock will begin after the convention. But one place where he and others have been far more active is the online realm—an area dominated by the young, and thus by Sanders supporters.

Using a tactic called “astro-turfing,” Clinton surrogates like Brock have attempted to advance the concept of the “Bernie Bro,” and to promote the idea that Sanders supporters are little more than a sexist cult. The moderator of the thriving Bernie Sanders for President Reddit page, preparing for an onslaught, recently outlined one common form these attacks take:

1. Create fake accounts

2. Establish that they are Bernie supporters by making them tweet about Bernie

3. Harass journalists and influencers in their @ mentions

4. Have other elites/influencers quote tweet these fake accounts and say they are hurting Bernie’s brand


5. Pitch a story to The Atlantic about the phenomenon of “Bernie Bros”

6.Establish a narrative that Bernie’s supporters are all racist, sexist young males who harass people online.

7. Make it more difficult for Sanders to expand his coalition by tainting the view of said coalition for women, people of color, and anyone who just doesn’t like online harassment/bullying.

Yesterday, Correct the Record announced they’d be taking it a step further. A new initiative called “Barrier Breakers 2016” will use $1 million (for now) to “help Clinton supporters push back on online harassment and thank superdelegates.”

http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2016/04/hillary-clintons-super-pac-taking-a-page-from-vlad.html

This is a pretty informative link.